The Past Is Now
by llamas-and-bullets
Summary: When faced with a demon attack, Buffy, Spike, their children, and Willow are forced to flee. But, Willow's spell goes wrong and they find themselves stuck in a different year, not just a different location.
1. Chapter 1

2011

"We can't fight them, there's too many!" Buffy shouted over the battle cries of the demons and the sounds of swords clashing. The demons had burst in, unnoticed until it was almost too late, and were easily overpowering the three who weren't prepared for a fight. Buffy checked behind her again to make sure the two children were still safe between her, Willow and Spike, before speaking up. "We need to get out of here, we can't hold them off much longer," she shouted. "Willow, can you do a spell?"

"I'm not sure, Buffy." Willow replied, frowning. "To teleport all of us at the same time, we'd all need to be connected, meaning we'd have to stop fighting. If we time it badly, we could get skewered before I can even do the spell."

"Well we bloody well can't stay here," Spike yelled, having only just avoided being decapitated. "We won't last 5 more minutes!"

Willow panicked. "Alright, I know a spell that will transport us to where I'm thinking. Like I said, we all need to be connected, so on the count of three, grab my arms and I'll get Anne and Alice." Buffy and Spike nodded their agreement and both glanced at the two terrified children.

Buffy gave a nervous smile. "It's going to be okay guys, I promise. Auntie Willow will get us out of here." The two girls only sniffled in response, and it took all the self-restraint Buffy and Spike had to stop themselves from going over and comforting their children.

"Here goes," Willow muttered. "One, two, three!" Willow reached for the two girls as Buffy and Spike grabbed her arms. "Praeterita."

There was a flash of white light, then silence, then nothing.

2001

"So, any breakthroughs on the identity of Miss Congeniality?" Buffy asked, keen to know more about who – or what – was after her sister.

"Well, I've narrowed it down some," Giles replied, walking over to the desk littered with books of varying ages, opened at specific pages. Buffy raised an eyebrow.

"Your definition of narrow is impressively wide," she remarked.

"Well-"Giles began, but was quickly cut off by a blinding light. "Good lord, what on earth was that?"

"Well I'm just guessing here, but I think it may have something to with the four people that just appeared in the middle of the floor." Xander spoke.

The four people turned to observe the unconscious newcomers suspiciously. There were two women and two young girls, all slumped on the floor, facing towards the window, and subsequently away from the four pairs of curious eyes observing them.

"Where could they have come from?" Buffy asked, looing expectantly at Giles. "And why are they so beaten up?"

Giles took his glasses off and began furiously polishing them, whilst Xander moved around to get a better look at the mysterious strangers. "Well, from the looks of it, it was a very large spell, only a very powerful witch would be able to cast it. Also taking into consideration that one of them is armed, I don't think it would be unwise to be wary of them…" He trailed off when he noticed Xander's expectant look.

"Buff, you may want to come see this."

Buffy frowned and walked over to where Xander was standing, as did Giles and Anya.

"Oh my god…" she whispered. "Is that…?"

"You and Willow? I believe so," Giles replied. Anya made a quiet, uninterested noise and headed back to the counter.

"Okay, I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that it's you two from the future," Xander suggested. "I mean you both look a lot older-"He was cut off when Buffy slapped his arm. "Hey! It's you from the future, not you from the now!"

"Okay, fine. Let's assume it's me and Willow from the future, but who are the kids?"

"Perhaps they wish to change the future and bringing these children back is the only way to do it?" Giles said. "And, I suppose, there is always the possibility that they're either your or Willow's." Buffy's eyes widened as she processed Giles' words, subtly checking the two girls for any similarities to her or Willow.

"As fascinating as this is, could you move this to the training room? They're bleeding all over the floor and its driving away customers." Anya requested.

Giles sighed. "Yes, I imagine they must be rather uncomfortable on the floor, if we move them into the training room, they could rest on the mats." Buffy and Xander agreed, and the three of them began moving them into the room.

"Man, that spell must've really knocked it out of them, I swear I nearly dropped Willow at least twice." Buffy sighed.

"We should probably call everyone, let them know what's going on." Buffy decided, just as Willow and Tara walked through the door, causing the bell to jingle.

"What's up guys?" Willow asked smiling. "You all look kinda wigged."

"Understatement of the century," Buffy muttered. In a louder voice, she said, "Will, you should come see this." Willow's smile faltered, as she followed Buffy.

"What is it?" She asked, as they rounded the corner to the training room, stopping, surprised when she saw herself asleep on one of the mats.

"Xander thinks it's us from the future," Buffy supplied. "They just appeared out of nowhere, it was majorly weird."

"Who are the kids?" Willow asked, having noticed the two girls. Buffy shrugged.

"We're not sure," She replied, just as a small groaning noise came from Buffy from the future.

"I'll go get Giles," Willow whispered and hurried back to the main part of the shop, leaving Buffy alone with all four people from the future, and having no idea what to do.

Buffy from the future opened her eyes gingerly and vaguely took in her surroundings. She nearly went straight back to sleep, before remembering the events right before the spell and immediately sat up, looking for her two children. She heard a small whimper of 'mommy' and rushed in that direction. She engulfed both girls in a hug, pulling back almost straight away to check them both for injuries, and upon finding none, pulled them back into another hug.

Meanwhile, Willow had also woken up, realising something hadn't gone quite right with the spell. Her suspicions were confirmed when she sat up and saw Buffy in front of her – but not her Buffy, Buffy from about ten years ago. She turned to the doorway when she heard people coming and felt her breath catch in her throat when she saw Tara among them.

"Holy moly," Anya commented. Willow laughed nervously and gave a small wave.

"Willow from the future I assume?" Giles asked.

Willow nodded, trying to keep herself from staring at Tara. "Yup," she replied, her voice hoarse.

"It seems you were all exhausted from the spell, are you quite alright?" He asked.

"Yup, nothing an aspirin can't solve."

"I'll go make some tea and get that aspirin," Anya offered. Willow nodded in thanks.

"Well, I assume you will be wanting to get back to your own time, but I'm afraid we can't do that until we work out what brought you here in the first place. Do you have any idea how this happened?"

"Yeah – well, sort of. We were all in the middle of an attack from these demons and-" She broke off realising that something else was wrong too, just as a small voice rang out from the other side of the training room.

"Mommy, where's Daddy?"


	2. Chapter 2

Buffy gasped, realising that Spike was not in the room with them. She looked over at Willow, hoping the witch would have some idea as to where he was, but she looked equally surprised. Buffy looked back at the two girls and smiled.

"Daddy's just gone shopping, you know, to get some dinner and stuff," She assured them. Alice, being only seven, believed her mother. Anne, on the other hand was doubtful, but didn't say anything, not wanting to upset her sister. They both nodded and looked over to where the younger versions of their friends were standing. Buffy tried to keep her mouth from falling at the shock of seeing Tara alive. "Hi," she said, waving.

Everyone seemed frozen, staring at her daughters.

Xander was the first to speak. "Oh my god, Buffy, you have kids!" He looked ready to pass out at this information. In fact, almost everyone did.

"Yup," Buffy laughed. "I do. This is Anne, and this is Alice." She said, pointing at the two children respectively. Any other attempts at conversation were cut short when Anya walked, carrying a plate with four steaming mugs on it.

"I thought you could all use some hot drinks, so I have tea for Willow and Buffy, and hot chocolate for the little munchkins," she announced. "And, uh, whose little munchkins are they?" Buffy laughed, surprised at how much she had actually missed Anya over the last eight years.

"They're mine," she replied.

Anya made a humming noise. "I wasn't sure, I mean they look a bit like you, obviously, but they don't have your eyes."

"Yeah, they have their Dad's eyes," Buffy agreed. "Speaking of their dad," She said, turning to face Willow. "We need to find a way to contact him. He could be… shopping anywhere." Willow nodded.

"I think I know a spell that will work," Willow assured her. "I just need to do a bit of reading to check." Buffy nodded and glanced at everyone.

"How about a good old fashioned Scooby research party?" Everyone agreed and began returning to the main part of the shop. Anne followed, rolling her eyes at how obvious her mum and aunt were – it was obvious that they had no idea where her Dad was. _I wish they would stop treating me like a kid,_ she thought to herself. _I_ can _deal with stuff like this – I have been my whole life!_

As they reached the table, and they large pile of books on top of it, a thought occurred to Giles. "Buffy? Buffy from the future, I mean," he began, correcting himself when both Buffys glanced up at him. "Do you have any useful information on this woman that's after Dawn? Why she's after Dawn, what kind of demon she is? We're rather stuck at the moment, I'm afraid."

Buffy stopped short when she realised what year it was, and that Dawn was in danger again.

"Yeah, but it might take a while to explain," she told him. "I can come over to yours tonight and write it all down if you want?" Giles' eyes widened, surprised that he was being given almost all of the information they needed. It seemed almost too good to be true.

"Yes, yes. That would be wonderful Buffy." He said, smiling. Buffy smiled back.

Xander clapped his hands together. "So, where do you want us to start?" he asked.

Willow smiled at him. "I actually don't need any help with this," she replied. "I know which book I need, I just need to find it."

Just as she said that, a guy walked into the shop. Buffy recognised him as Tara's brother.

"Well, whaddya know?" He said. "What, no hug for your big brother?" He joked When Tara no move towards him.

Spike groaned and opened his eyes. He began to panic when he couldn't recall where he was, and Buffy, Anne and Alice were nowhere to be seen. He breathed in, hoping he would be ableto detect their scent, but picked up nothing. Not even a trace. Spike quickly tried detecting some other smells, to see if he could work out where he was.

He picked up a scent he hadn't smelled in years, but disregarded it, until he had a closer look at where he was. He frowned, Willow had meant to transport them to another place, and though her spells often went wrong, he didn't think it possible for her to mess up this badly. He continued to repeat this to himself until-

"Where have you been my William? Miss Edith says you've been very naughty."

"They seem nice," Willow commented once Tara had arranged to have dinner with her family.

"You know, they're okay," Tara replied. "So, um, any other research that needs doing?"

"Do you need any help looking for that spell Will?" Buffy asked. "I know you said you didn't, but you've been at it for a while." Willow sighed and nodded.

"I thought it would be in this book, but I guess I could've gotten it wrong." She admitted. "I haven't read up on teleportation or time travel for a while."

After being told what to look for by Willow, everyone settled down with a book and began to search for a spell to bring back Buffy's husband.

A few hours passed, and still no one had found anything of any relevance. Buffy stood up and sighed.

"I better get going, Dawn will be home from school soon, and I promised Riley he could come over." A few vague mumbles were given as a form of goodbye and she left she shop after grabbing the last jelly donut from the box.

"Well, we're officially out of donuts, I'll go get some more." Xander announced. Anya looked up from the book she was reading, seeing an escape from the research.

"Yes, I'll join you, and we definitely won't have sex while we're gone."

Buffy's eyes widened. "Anya!" She scolded, glancing meaningfully at the two girls on either side of her, one blushing profusely, and the other one indifferent, not knowing what the word meant.

"I said we _won't_ ," Anya mumbled, before leaving with Xander to buy refreshments.

"You'll never believe what's happened," Buffy said as soon as Riley walked through the door. He raised an eyebrow.

"Good afternoon Buffy, I'm good, thanks for asking. How are you?"

She fake glared at him. "We were doing some research in the shop, when Bam! All of a sudden future versions of me, Willow and two children appear out of nowhere!"

"Huh," Riley said, seemingly unsurprised.

"Then they wake up, and it turns out the children are mine, and they're here because Willow cast some sort of spell that went wrong. And also that my husband from the future is supposed to be there, but the spell went doubly wrong and we've been searching for a way to bring him here all afternoon."

Riley got protective when Buffy mention that future her had a husband. "So this husband, who is he?" He asked. Buffy opened her mouth to reply, but stopped realising no one had actually asked.

At that moment, Dawn walked down the stairs and headed for the front door. Buffy panicked, and quickly stepped between her and the door. "Woah, where do you think you're going?"

"I'm going to Melinda's for dinner," she answered, frowning.

"Since when?" Buffy asked.

"Now-ish," Dawn frowned, wondering why her sister was acting so strange.

"You can't." Buffy stated, ignoring Dawn's irritated look. "It's not safe for you to walk there."

Dawn laughed. "It's across the street! What's the big deal? I'm just gonna go-"

"No." Buffy said, pretending not to notice the confused looks she was getting from both Dawn _and_ Riley. "It's family night. Besides, I have something you might find interesting at the Magic Box."

Dawn rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I'm sure I'll find ugly demons more interesting than hanging out with my friend." Buffy sighed.

"Dawn, I'm sorry, I'm just worried about you," she said. "And I promise you'll be interested in what's happened." Dawn glared at her sister, before giving in.

"Fine, but this better be pretty darn cool."


	3. Chapter 3

The bell above the door sounded as Buffy, Dawn and Riley entered the Magic Box. The three made their way over to the table where everyone except future Buffy and Willow and Tara had given up on research. Xander was reading a comic book, and Giles was behind the counter whilst Anya had taken Anne and Alice to the shop next door to buy some sweets. Dawn's mouth dropped, as she looked between her sister, and a slightly older version of her sister.

"Whoa," she laughed. "Okay, this is pretty cool."

Buffy smirked. "Ha, told you. Much cooler than Melinda." Dawn glared at her sister, before turning to face Buffy and Willow from the future.

"So you guys are from the future right? What's it like?" She asked eagerly, sitting in a chair opposite the duo and leaning on the table.

Buffy and Willow both laughed at the version of Dawn that they hadn't seen for years – she was happy and carefree, not having had to experience the events of the coming years.

"Well, I mean there hasn't been a plague that's wiped out humanity yet, so I'd say pretty well." Buffy replied, smiling.

Dawn was about to ask another question, when she noticed the delicate band on the finger of her left hand. She squealed in a way that only teenage girls can, and pointed at the ring. "Oh my god! You're married!" She beamed.

Buffy was about to reply when her two daughters came barrelling in through the door.

Riley's heart sank when the children ran straight past him, clearly not recognising him. It was clear that not only was he not with Buffy in the future, but her wasn't even around as a friend or ally.

Dawn's heart, on the other hand, soared when she saw the two girls running towards the table.

"Mommy!" The younger one giggled. "Auntie Anya let us both get a chocolate bar!" Buffy smiled at them both.

"Well I hope you both said thank you," she hinted. Both girls looked over at Anya and thanked her in unison. Anya shrugged.

"It's not like they were expensive - if they were, I wouldn't have."

Dawn completely ignored Anya. "Oh my god you have kids?" She couldn't stop smiling. They both looked over at her as she spoke and smiled. Alice, upon recognising her, jumped up on her lap and hugged her.

"Auntie Dawnie!" She laughed. Buffy hadn't thought it possible, but Dawn's smile widened even more.

"Hey, uh…"

"Alice," Buffy supplied. "And Anne."

"Hey guys," Dawn laughed, smiling at Anne over Alice's shoulder.

The three girls conversed, instantly connecting. Buffy could see how excited Dawn was about having nieces, and it was clear to everyone that the two girls were enjoying meeting the younger version of their Aunt.

Other Buffy, noticing her boyfriend's glum mood, tried to cheer him up. "Hey Riley, why don't we go train in the other room?"

He nodded, and they both walked in. He immediately went to the punching bag and began pummelling it.

Buffy sighed. "Riley," she began, but stopped talking immediately when she noticed a tingling at the base of her neck telling her that demons were nearby. She looked around the room, ready for a fight, frowning when there was nothing out of the ordinary. "I-" She managed to say, before being knocked off her feet by… nothing.

She began to lash out blindly, her fists sloppily connecting with a solid body

"Giles," She yelled. "There's something in here!"

In the other room, Buffy panicked, immediately worrying for the safety of children. She pulled them both behind the counter. "Both of you stay here and don't come out until I tell you to, okay? If you need my help, then yell for me." Both girls nodded, too afraid to do anything else, and sat huddled together, hoping the ordeal would be over soon. Their memories of their last encounter with demons was fresh in their minds.

In the training room, Spike had joined in the fight, unbeknownst to everyone else. After the demons in there were taken care of, Buffy and Riley ran into the main part of the shop, unable to hear Spike's sarcastic comments as they did so.

Buffy, unable to concentrate with everyone's babbling, ordered them to shut up. She was almost able to estimate where the remaining demon was, when she heard Tara shout, "Buffy, behind you!" and was thrown onto the table.

Anne put an arm around her sister when she heard her begin to sniffle. "Hey, it's going to be alright. Mom will get rid of them, you know she will." Alice nodded, burying her head in her sister's shoulder, trying to block out the sounds of the fight.

Buffy quickly regained her footing, and with the help of her future self, she was able to easily kill the demon once Tara had lifted her spell.

Tara's family walked into the shop, stopping in front of the dead demon, whilst Buffy went behind the counter to get Anne and Alice. The two girls followed their mom out, whilst Willow dragged the body out of their sight.

Spike, now visible to everyone else, walked in from the training room. Alice immediately recognised her father and gasped happily.

"Daddy!" She yelled happily and threw herself at him for a hug. Spike frowned in confusion and quickly grabbed the child after she launched herself at him to stop her from falling. Anne, having realised that this was her dad from the past, and that he had no idea who they were, stayed back, behind her mom.

All eyes turned to Buffy.

She laughed nervously and walked over to Alice and a very confused Spike. She quickly picked her up from Spike's arms and walked back over to where Anne was. "Wait a minute," he mumbled, frowning when he realised there were two Buffys and two Willows.

Dawn was grinning, the demon attack and Tara's very confused family completely forgotten. "No way," she whispered.

"Um, Buff," Xander said. "Please tell us you just married a guy who happens to look a lot like Spike?" Buffy just smiled apologetically. "Oh my god," he said, horrified.

"Oh my god," Dawn whispered excitedly.

"Will someone tell me what the bloody hell is going on?"


	4. Chapter 4

"Dru, what is it?" Spike heard himself call out, except it wasn't him. His eyebrows raised as his past self walked into the factory. "Have you- "he started, stopping mid-sentence when he saw his doppelganger standing there. "Who are you?" He asked, subtly moving in front of Drusilla.

Spike raised an eyebrow. "Thought it was pretty obvious mate, I'm you from the future."

The other Spike scoffed. "I wasn't bleedin' born yesterday," he said, raising his eyebrows. "I could name dozens of demons that can shape shift, and finding one in here would be far more likely than finding myself from the future." Spike rolled his eyes at his younger self's stubbornness.

Drusilla's giggling distracted them from their argument briefly. "You've been playing with the sunshine, my William." She laughed and looked up at the ceiling. "The Sun, the Moon, and all their little stars."

Spike raised his eyebrows, surprised that she could see so far into the future. The Other Spike, clearly not understanding the meaning behind Drusilla's words, continued to talk.

"Besides, you reek of Slayer, probably one of her mates with a spell put on them, am I right?" Spike rolled his eyes and sighed.

"You're really, really not." He replied. Realising that he wasn't going to get any information from him, he decided to look around. Taking into account the fact that he was still with Drusilla and they were staying in the factory… "1997 right?"

"Well, yeah," his younger self replied, assuming that it was an obvious deduction. "Alright," he said, laughing. "Let's assume that you are from the future, what year are you from?"

"2011," Spike replied, glad they were finally getting somewhere, even if it was only hypothetical.

"Right, and why do you smell like Slayer?" He asked.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"I'll explain in a minute, okay?" Buffy said, addressing everyone in the shop except Tara's family. "But first," she said, turning to face Tara's family. "Tara's not going with you, she's staying here."

"She belongs with us," her father replied. "We know how to control her… problem." Tara looked down at the floor, ashamed, whilst everyone else looked on, confused.

"Problem?" Past Willow asked, looking at Tara expectantly.

"I-I-" Tara stuttered, unable to speak.

"She's part demon, all the women from her mother's side of the family are." Mr McClay said, finishing what Tara was trying to say.

"No she's not," Buffy stated. Tara gasped, and looked up at Buffy tearfully.

"I-I'm not?" She asked, hopefully. Buffy smiled reassuringly, and shook her head.

"I know a quick way to prove it," she said. "Do you trust me?" Tara nodded, desperate to see if she could escape the fear that had been clouding every moment of her life. Buffy turned to Spike. "Spike, you need to punch her – gently." Everyone looked appalled for a second, before realising why she said it.

Spike sighed, walking over Tara warily. He punched her in the nose – as gently as one _can_ punch someone in the nose – and grunted as he was hit by a wave of excruciating pain, courtesy of the chip in his head. "She's human," he said through gritted teeth, clutching his head, and making his way back to the corner he was standing in before.

The truth washed over Tara, and she began to cry happily. "I'm not a demon," she whispered to Willow.

"You're not a demon," she repeated, smiling.

"He hurt my nose," Tara said, laughing.

"Demon or not, Tara still belongs with her family." Mr McClay stated.

"You're right," Younger Buffy said. "Which is why she's staying with us." A fresh wave of tears hit Tara. She couldn't seem to stop smiling, and looking over at Willow, she realised that she couldn't either.

Tara's brother stepped forward, looking disgusted. "Dad? You're gonna let 'em just… Tara, if you don't get in that car, I swear by God I will beat you down." Tara's happy expression fell slightly.

"Yeah, well if you do that… I'll get my mommy to beat you up!" Alice said, stepping up and pouting angrily. Although Tara had died before she was born, she'd heard multiple stories of her, and wasn't about to let this guy hurt her – physically or emotionally.

Buffy smiled proudly at her youngest, whilst Donny, clearly not expecting to be threatened by a seven year old, backed off, surprised.

Mr McClay glared at Tara. "Tara, for eighteen years, we have supported you,"

"Dad," she said, interrupting him. "Just go."

Tara's family sent one last glare at everyone in the shop, before storming out.

Tara looked around at the people surrounding her, finally feeling confident enough to call them her friends. Willow smiled at her, and wrapped her up in a bone crushing hug.

"So before we go party it up, I believe _someone_ has some explaining to do." Xander said, turning to face Buffy. Curious, everyone else's eyes turned to her too.

She shrugged. "I don't see what the big deal is," she muttered. "In the future, I'm married to Spike."

Silence.

Said silence was broken a few seconds later by a bark of laughter from Spike.

"You're bloody kidding!" He laughed.

"I second that!" Shouted Past Buffy.

Buffy made brief eye contact with Willow and indicated for her to take the children somewhere else, sensing there was going to be an argument.

"Hey guys," she said quietly, "Mummy and Daddy need to talk, how about we go get more chocolate?" The two girls made varying noises of agreement and followed Willow out of the shop, whilst Spike made an exasperated noise.

"I'm not Daddy!" He said, frustrated.

Buffy laughed. "I hate to break it to you but you kinda are."

"And I hate to break it to _you_ luv, but vampires can't have children," Spike retaliated. Buffy waved off his argument without a second thought.

"There was a prophecy, and also a spell." She said, trying not to go into too much detail. Looking at the Spike in front of her caused her to miss her Spike. She sighed and rubbed the claim mark on her neck that had been aching ever since they had been separated.

Spike, however, noticed the subconscious action, his eyes widening when Buffy's hand returned to her side and he could see the bite mark on her neck. "Is that…" He whispered, unable to finish his sentence.

Everyone else turned to see what had had such a drastic impact on Spike's attitude, but saw nothing unusual.

Buffy smiled shyly. "Yup."


	5. Chapter 5

"You've got to be kidding!" Spike yelled, pacing along the floor of the factory. "You really expect me to believe that _that's_ why you reek of slayer?"

The other Spike nodded, making no effort to console his younger self.

"I just can't believe this! Me, William the Bloody, fighting alongside the Slayer! It's ridiculous! It goes against everything I stand for!" He yelled, outraged. "Though I suppose it could be worse, we could be _friends_ ," he said, his face twisted into a mask of disgust.

Spike had to stop himself from laughing at the idea of telling his younger self that he was actually married to Buffy, deciding that he would definitely not take it well, and going for a safer option instead. He had also avoided mentioning anything that could cause him to stay away from Sunnydale in the future, such as the chip, in case it affected his future with Buffy.

"Sorry mate," he said, unsympathetically. The younger Spike just sighed, shook his head and continued to pace.

Everyone continued to stare at Buffy, wondering what Spike was so worked up about.

"What is it?" Younger Buffy asked, frowning. She wouldn't admit it, but she was worried to see what had rendered Spike speechless.

Buffy blushed, not wanting to announce something so personal, when she knew she would be criticized for her actions, but also not wanting to hurt Spike's feelings by disregarding something so important.

"It's, uh," she was stopped from answering by a pained grunt from Spike. Buffy immediately thought back to the time the chip malfunctioned, but quickly realised that that didn't happen for another two years. She frowned, unsure of what could be causing this, rushing forward to gently grab his arms. "Spike what is it?" She asked, receiving no answer other than his laboured breathing.

Suddenly he stopped, and would've slumped to the floor unconscious if not for Buffy's firm grip on his arms.

"What's wrong with him?" Dawn asked. She considered Spike a friend, though she would never admit it to her sister, scared that she would ban her from hanging out with him, and it worried her to see him in so much pain.

Buffy frowned, just as oblivious as everyone else. "I don't know," she murmured, noticing her sister's worried expression. "It's okay, he's not dust so he'll be fine," she assured her. Dawn, nodded, still wary.

Buffy lowered Spike onto the floor as gently as possible, not wanting to cause him more pain, and thought about what to do.

"Okay, I'll wait here until Willow and the girls get back, and you guys go to the Bronze for Tara's party. We'll keep an eye on Spike and make sure this was a onetime thing, and then maybe meet you guys later."

Xander raised an eyebrow. "You want to bring Spike to Tara's birthday party?" He asked, incredulous.

"Yeah, Buffy, maybe he's different in the future, but right now, I don't think it's best to have him around." Willow added.

Tara looked around nervously before speaking up. "I-I don't mind," she said quietly, not wanting to anger anyone after they had been so forgiving about the spell she had cast on them, but not wanting Spike to be cast out after he had helped her too. Buffy smiled.

"Then it's settled," she smiled. "You guys go have fun."

Everyone shrugged, not wanting to argue with that command, and headed out of the door, just as Willow returned with Anne and Alice.

"What happened to Spike?" Willow asked, after seeing him on the floor.

Buffy sighed. "We don't know, he just passed out. We're going to stay here a bit longer to make sure it doesn't happen again, and then we can go to the Bronze. Do they let kids in the Bronze?" Willow shrugged.

Buffy gasped, a thought occurring to her. "Will, where are we going to stay?" She whispered, not wanting the girls – who were currently playing eye spy - to hear her and worry. Willow frowned.

"Well, you should probably check with past you, but you and the girls could stay at your house, and I'm pretty sure Xander has bought his apartment by now, so I could probably stay with him and Anya." Buffy nodded, relieved that at least one problem had been solved.

"What would I do without you?" She smiled.

"Crash and burn?" Willow suggested, smiling. Buffy laughed, making a vague sound of agreement.

"So what are you going to do about Tara?" Buffy asked. The mood immediately turned somber.

"I dunno, I mean, I don't want to let her die, obviously, and I don't want to go all evil and accidentally end the world…"

"But?"

"But, what if it changes the future for the worse? I don't know how, but things like that tend to happen to us scoobies, you know?" Buffy smiled sympathetically and gave her friend a one armed hug.

"For what it's worth, I don't think anything bad could come from saving Tara," Buffy said, hoping that they could avoid losing her. Willow gave a watery smile in return.

Their conversation was cut short by a groan from Spike. Anne and Alice immediately went over to see if he was okay.

Spike opened his eyes to see two faces peering down at him. He frowned when both girls grinned.

"Girls, give him some space," he heard Buffy say. Once he knew he wouldn't head-butt anyone when he sat up, he pulled himself to his feet, grabbing a shelf to steady himself when he saw black dots swim across his vision. "Bloody hell," he muttered, closing his eyes briefly.

"Need anything?" Buffy asked, wanting to make sure he really was okay. He shook his head. Buffy sighed – it was obvious that Spike was uncomfortable around her after learning about the claim. "Do you know what caused that?" He shook his head again in reply. "Right, well, we're going to the Bronze now, its Tara's birthday, you sure you can walk?"

Spike ignored the last question, and frowned. "We? As in, I'm going?"

Buffy rolled her eyes and smiled. "Yeah, Tara wanted you there. Besides, we need to make sure you don't pass out on us again." He nodded, avoiding eye contact with everyone in the room.

"Right then, let's go." The five of them headed to the door, and Buffy sighed, missing _her_ Spike – the one that was comfortable around her, and loved her. She just wished that they would be able to bring him back soon.


	6. Chapter 6

After convincing the bouncer to allow Anne and Alice into the club, the group of four made their way inside. They quickly found everyone else and walked over, with the exception of Spike, who went straight to the bar. Buffy and Willow made an unspoken decision to stick to the shadows, not wanting to draw attention to the fact that there were a pair of identical people walking around - they could hardly pass as twins since they looked so much older.

Buffy grabbed Anne's hand as she saw her daughter begin to slip into the crowd, motioning for Willow to carry on walking with Alice.

"Where do you think you're going?" She asked her. Anne sighed.

"I just want to have a look around, I've heard all the stories you've told me but I've never seen it myself," she said, pouting. Buffy shook her head firmly.

"Yes, you've heard the stories, so you know how dangerous it is," she said, crossing her arms. "There is no way I'm going to risk you getting hurt - you should know that." Anne slumped her shoulders and heaved a sigh, pulling her hand out of her mom's grasp.

"But mom!" She protested. "I'm nine and a quarter! And I've seen you fighting! I know what to do if I get caught!"

"No you don't, and I'm not going to let you get hurt. Conversation closed, now come on." Buffy replied, gently but firmly.

Anne huffed as her hand was grabbed and she was pulled over to the table where the younger version of her mom was sitting with Giles, Willow and her sister.

Alice's face lit up when she saw her mom and ran over to her to be picked up. "Mommy, I'm thirsty," she said, pouting slightly. Buffy smiled.

"Well let's go get you a drink, do you want anything Anne?" She asked. Anne shook her head and looked in the opposite direction. Buffy sighed and shook her head. She mouthed for Willow to keep an eye on her and made her way over to the bar with Alice.

Whilst she was walking to the bar, she noticed that Spike was still there, and hoped that she would get a chance to talk to him, but that hope was dashed when he saw her coming, and walked away hastily. Buffy sighed, once again wishing that she had her husband here with her, and quickly ordered some juice for her daughter.

"So what's the future like, for you I mean?" younger Buffy asked Willow. Although it was odd seeing her friend look older than she was used to, it was reassuring to know that Willow would be her friend for a long time to come. "Are you married?" she asked, subtly tilting her head to where Tara was sitting with younger Willow. A flash of pain clouded Willow's eyes, before she covered it up. She smiled sadly and shook her head.

"Not yet," she replied. "But maybe one day I guess." She shrugged. Buffy immediately realised that it had been a bad idea to bring up the subject and tried to console her friend.

"Hey," she said, rubbing Willow's shoulder. "Any girl would be lucky to have you, you just haven't found the right one yet."

 _More like the right one was ripped away from me_ , Willow thought to her self, glancing at Tara sadly. She sighed and turned to face Buffy, smiling slightly.

"I guess," she agreed, nodding her head. Buffy smiled at Willow, but silent wondered what had happened with Tara - the redhead's sad glances in her direction hadn't been lost on her - but it was clearly a touchy subject, and she didn't want to make Willow miserable twice in the space of five minutes.

Buffy looked around, making sure no one was listening to her, before speaking again. "So am I really married to Spike or are you guys just winding me up?" Willow laughed, albeit slightly quieter than usual.

"I'm afraid so," she replied. Buffy pulled a face.

"I'm afraid too," she said. "What on earth do I see in him?" She genuinely couldn't think of any positive attributes Spike had. Well, he did help them out a lot - but that was only when they paid him, and he could be amusing in the eyes of some people, but it was usually at the expense of her or her friends, so that was off the table too.

Willow spoke, breaking into Buffy's internal dispute. "Trust me Buffy, I know it's hard to believe it now, but he's a good man in the future. Hey - I've even forgiven him for the bottle-in-face incident!" Buffy raised her eyebrows.

"Wow Willow, what did he do, get down on his knees and beg for forgiveness?" Willow giggled.

"Well, I almost made him, but I though that would be taking it a step too far." Buffy laughed.

Anne walked over to Willow and tapped her on the shoulder. "I'm going to the toilet." She said.

"Hold on a second honey, I'll take you," Willow replied, getting out of her seat. Anne raised an eyebrow, reminding Willow of how similar she was to her father, and shook her head.

"they're literally over there," she said, pointing over to where the bathrooms were situated, about fifteen feet away. "You can watch me walk there and back, I'll be fine."

Willow sighed, but gave in. "Okay, but you have five minutes before I'm coming in there after you." Anne nodded, enthusiastically, and walked over to the toilets, glad to have at least a little bit of freedom. Willow waited until she had seen Anne enter the bathroom, before returning to her conversation with Buffy.

Older Buffy returned to find her younger self and Willow laughing. "Huh, you're gone for five minutes and you miss everything," she joked. She looked around the table. "Where's Anne?" she asked worriedly.

"She went to the toilet about a minute ago, don't worry, I saw her go in - she's fine."

Buffy nodded, and joined in the conversation.

A few minutes passed and she began to wonder where her eldest was.

A few more minutes passed and she began to worry again.

"Willow, shouldn't she be back by now?" Buffy asked. Willow checked her watch and frowned.

"I'll go check the toilets," she said and walked in the direction Anne had gone. She returned minute later, still without Anne. "She wasn't in there." Buffy started to panic. Her mouth went dry and she had to concentrate for a second to work out what to do. She turned to Alice.

"You need to stay with Grandpa Giles for a few minutes okay? Willow and I need to go check on something." Alice nodded, unaware of the panic that was suffocating the adults around her.

Buffy taped Giles on the shoulder. "Something's happened, I need you to look after Alice for a few minutes - don't let her out of your sight, okay?" Giles nodded and smiled awkwardly at the child in front of him.

As soon as her youngest was in safe hands, Buffy, Willow and younger Buffy went to look for Anne. "Right," Buffy began. "Let's check outside first, she hasn't been gone too long, so she can't have gotten too far." They nodded and rushed out of the door in time to hear a high pitched scream.


	7. Chapter 7

Spike looked down into his drink and sighed, the situation with the slayer was confusing him to no end, and he was hoping that he would wake up and find out that it was just a dream. As soon as he thought that though, he disregarded it. There was no way it wasn't real - the way she grabbed his arms before he passed out, the way she smelled of him, the way her eyes looked-

He shook his head, cutting off that train of thought. So he might've had a dream about the slayer, it didn't mean he was in love with her. A small voice at the back of his mind reminded him that they were married in the future, and that their children were literally sitting on the other side of the club, but he cut it off. If present Buffy's reaction was anything to go by, nothing like that would be happening any time soon - if ever - and he shouldn't get his hopes up.

 _Not that I'm hoping for anything_ , he thought, before rolling his eyes at his own ignorance. He glared into his drink, whilst silently admitting that he had feelings for the slayer.

He was still looking into his glass, pondering over his newfound feelings, when he picked up four accelerated heartbeats outside the club. Figuring that someone was in trouble, and that it wouldn't hurt to get on the slayer's good side, he headed towards them.

—

Buffy whipped her head around, looking for the source of the scream. She could hear her heart pounding in her ears, and was finding it hard to focus on anything in the gloom of the alleyway. When she saw her eldest in the clutches of a greasy looking vampire, she didn't know whether to be relieved or even more afraid.

She decided the answer was to be more afraid, when three more vampires materialised seemingly out of nowhere and restrained her, Willow, and her younger self. She frantically tried to get free, but the vampires were definitely stronger than they looked, and knew what they were doing.

"Mommy!" Anne shouted, crying and gasping hysterically. "Mommy help!" Her daughter's cries spurred Buffy on, but still none of them could break free.

"Now," one of the vampires, presumably the leader, began, smiling maliciously. "When did the Slayer have a kid?" Buffy refused to answer him, and instead, tried to comfort Anne.

"It's going to be okay sweetie, you're going to be fine," she promised, never stopping trying to break away from the vampire constricting her. Although the words calmed Anne a bit, everyone else could hear how shrill her voice was, betraying her comforting face. All four vampires began to laugh.

"So what I'm thinking," the leader said. "We kill the kid first, then those two, then her." He finished, pointing at Buffy and Willow, then younger Buffy. Buffy, realising that they had mere seconds to save her daughter, began to struggle more frantically than before.

She almost missed the vampire turning to dust because of the tears in her eyes. She stopped struggling and blinked quickly to see Spike awkwardly patting Anne on the back whilst she hugged him as tightly as she could.

The vampires restraining them were clearly lost without their leader, and although they were oddly strong, their fighting technique was pathetic, and they were all dusted in thirty seconds.

Buffy ran over to her daughter and quickly checked her for injuries, finding a small cut on her forehead and a bruise on her cheek. She wiped away Anne's tears, whilst whispering reassuring words, and hugged her.

Meanwhile, younger Buffy was staring at Spike as if he had grown a second head. He shrugged and looked away.

With his head turned away, he didn't notice Buffy approaching him until he was engulfed in a hug for the second time that night.

"Thank you," he heard her say. He patted her on the shoulder when he felt a few stray tears land on his t-shirt.

Assuming that Buffy would not be in the mood for making sleeping arrangements, Willow turned to the girl standing next to her, tapping her on the arm lightly.

"Could Buffy and the girls stay with you and Joyce? We don't have any money for a hotel or anything," Willow asked tentatively. Buffy seemed as if she was about to protest, until she heard that they had nowhere else to go. She nodded her head, before frowning.

"Where are you going to stay?" She asked.

"I was going to ask Xander if I could stay with him and Anya," Willow replied. Buffy snorted.

"Have fun listening to them having sex," she joked. Willow pulled a face, having forgotten that the two of them used to go at it like bunnies.

Buffy, having disentangled herself from a rather awkward looking Spike, took hold of her daughter's hand.

"We should probably get going before something else happens," younger Buffy said. "you guys are staying with me by the way," she said, looking at Buffy and Anne. Buffy felt as if a slight weight had been lifted off of her shoulders when she found out that they had somewhere to stay.

"Thank you," she said, smiling gratefully at her younger self. "We just need to go get Alice then we're ready to go."

The five made their way back inside to find Giles attempting to entertain Alice.

"No, you see the joke is that five in roman numerals is a 'v' shape."

Alice frowned. Buffy took pity on her and picked her up. "We have to get going, sorry we couldn't have that chat about Glory, but it's kinda late and the girls are tired, how about tomorrow?" Giles nodded.

"Yes, of course. I'll see you tomorrow then? And you I assume?" He added, looking at younger Buffy, who nodded.

"Bright eyed and bushy tailed!"

"Right, well, goodnight, do be careful." Both Buffys snorted and made their way to the exit, Anne and Alice both holding hands with their mom, Anne reluctant to let go after the events of the evening.

Alice turned around, looking for Spike. "Bye daddy!" she shouted once she spotted him, waving at him and smiling.

Spike raised his hand in response, smiling awkwardly, not having the heart to remind her that he wasn't _really_ her dad.


	8. Chapter 8

It was only when they had nearly reached Revello Drive, that Buffy realised what was happening - after twelve years, she was going to see her mother alive and well. She had to make a conscious effort not to stop in the middle of the sidewalk and cry. Whether they were tears of joy, or of sorrow, she wasn't so sure.

Over the past decade, she had become used to not having her mother around, and the pain that was like a shard in her chest immediately after she died, had become a dull ache. Seeing her again would eliminate all of this progress, and once she got back to her time, it would be like losing her all over again.

 _But you could save her,_ she thought to herself. After being told that she was saying with Joyce, the thought had been at the back of her mind and now that it had been brought forward, she couldn't stop thinking of all the ways she could stop her mom from dying. She could stay with her and call an ambulance when it happens - she could even stop the tumor from happening in the first place, but there was always the chance that she would just die a different way. Buffy knew firsthand the dangers of not letting someone stay dead.

She was brought out of her internal rambling when they reached the house. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw the house that held so many memories for her. The four made their way up to the door, pausing to let younger Buffy unlock it and let them in.

"Mom!" She called.

"Hi Honey," her mom replied, coming down the stairs. Buffy had to pause to blink back tears before she looked up. Joyce gasped when she saw the older version of her daughter and the two children. Buffy laughed awkwardly.

"Something's happened."

—

"So you're from the future?" Joyce asked, once they were all sat down with hot chocolates. Buffy had tried to convince the two girls to go to bed, but they were desperate to spend time with their grandma.

Buffy nodded.

"And these are your children?"

Buffy nodded again. Joyce looked over at the two girls squeezed together on the armchair, who smiled and waved at her. Tears pricked Joyce's eyes. After finding out that her daughter was the Slayer, and that they tended to die young, she lost all hope of Buffy ever having a normal, safe life. To find out that Buffy would survive another twelve years - at least! - and was happily married with children, brought these hopes back to life. She felt as if after having her life snatched away from her, Buffy was finally able to take it back, and she couldn't be more proud of her.

"Oh Buffy," she smiled, and pulled her daughter into a hug. Buffy herself was fighting tears as well, but unlike Joyce, was unwilling to let them show. She knew there was no worse feeling than knowing you were going to die, and she didn't want to bring that upon her own mom.

Buffy sighed when Joyce pulled away, wanting nothing more than to return to her warm embrace.

"Oh what am I doing? You must be shattered!" Joyce exclaimed. Anne and Alice opened their mouths to protest, only to yawn in unison. Buffy, Dawn and Joyce laughed, and even younger Buffy managed to crack a smile. "There's a bed downstairs in the basement and I can set up an airbed as well for the girls," Joyce smiled. "And we can finish this conversation tomorrow." She kissed Buffy on the head and went to go set up the sleeping arrangements.

Buffy smiled an went over to check on her daughters, only to find that they were already asleep on each other. She picked up Alice first, careful not to disturb Anne, and took her downstairs to where her mom was setting up the beds. Once the airbed was set up, she laid Alice down, making a mental note to get pyjamas for everyone the next day, and went upstairs.

When she got to the living room, she picked up Anne, only to be stopped by her mother. "I'm so proud of you," Joyce whispered, kissing her on the forehead. Buffy smiled. "Goodnight honey."

Buffy watched as her mom retreated up the stairs, before making her way downstairs for some well deserved rest.

—

She woke up the next morning to the smell of pancakes. Remembering the events of the previous day, she looked to the air bed beside her to check on her daughters. She panicked momentarily before she heard their laughter upstairs. Yawning, she walked up the stairs, and into the kitchen.

Almost as soon as she did, she was assaulted with a handful of flour. All the laughter stopped, replaced with three guilty faces. Buffy raised an eyebrow and surveyed the kitchen. Pans were strewn across almost every viable surface, some with burnt remnants of pancakes in them and some not even used. A carton of milk had been knocked over, forming a pool on the countertop that was quickly dripping onto the floor, and flour was strewn everywhere, especially all over the three children standing awkwardly in front of Buffy.

Amidst all the chaos, a pile of pancakes had been stacked haphazardly on a plate, and put on the island.

"I can explain," Dawn promised, hoping that if they could clear it up in time, her mom wouldn't have to find out. Buffy smirked, curious as to how Dawn was going to try to get out of trouble.

"Well, we thought you had a long day yesterday, and you must be feeling pretty bummed without Spike here," Buffy looked down at the mention of her, currently missing, husband. "So we decided to make you breakfast - we thought you would be asleep for longer," Dawn grimaced. Buffy softened when she realised that it had originally been a sweet gesture, when a thought occurred to her.

"You better not have let Anne and Alice cook," she said, fixing Dawn with her best glare. Dawn became visibly more nervous.

"No way!" She exclaimed. "I just let them mix the batter and stuff, I promise!" Buffy observed her for any sign that she was lying, then nodded.

"Okay, but we better get this cleaned up before mom comes down. And next time you decide to do something nice, try to leave out the food fights okay?"

The three girls nodded eagerly, glad that they was getting away with just a warning, and got to work mopping up the spilled milk and wiping flour off everything.

Twenty minutes later when Joyce came downstairs, the only thing wrong with the kitchen, was that it was much cleaner than usual. Joyce raised her eyebrows at the four people sitting at the table inconspicuously. She silently slid a couple of pancakes onto a plate and warmed them up, preparing to go eat in the living room.

"Oh, and next time you try to hide the fact that you had a food fight, make sure your clothes don't have flour all down the front."


	9. Chapter 9

Buffy followed her mom into the living room, hoping to finish the conversation they started yesterday.

"So you have children, am I correct in assuming you have a husband too?" Joyce asked. Buffy smiled and fiddled with her wedding ring.

"You are," she replied coyly. Joyce smiled and rolled her eyes.

"Come on then, tell me about him, do I know him yet?" She asked. Before answering, Buffy took a moment to appreciate the moment - she was talking with her mom about wedding stuff. It was something she never got to do when she got married, and although it wasn't under the preferable circumstances, it was still more than she ever thought she would get.

"Uh, yeah, you do know him," Buffy replied. Joyce looked at her expectantly.

"Is it Riley?" She asked. Buffy couldn't help the small bubble of laughter that rose from her throat, and shook her head.

"No, not Riley. Its, um, its Spike."

Joyce almost laughed at how ridiculous that was, and was about to tell Buffy to tell her who it really was, when she saw the look her daughter was giving her. She looked down and saw that she was twisting her ring around her finger nervously, realising that she really was married to a vampire.

"Oh my god," she whispered. Buffy laughed awkwardly.

"Yeah, I know," she said, smiling.

"Spike?" Joyce asked. "Spike the vampire?" Buffy nodded.

"The very same," she replied. Joyce blinked a few times.

"I think I need something to drink," she said. She began to stand up, but sat down again, clutching her head.

"Mom? Mom what's wrong?" Buffy asked, trying not to panic. Joyce shook her head gently.

"Just a headache sweetie, it's nothing," she replied, still wincing and holding her head. Buffy took a deep breath.

"No you're not," she said. Joyce looked up.

"Buffy," she breathed, worry lines immediately appearing on her face.

"Don't panic," Buffy, said, hoping to reassure her. "You'll be fine I promise, you just need to have an operation. In fact, you should book an appointment now." She felt bad lying to her mom, but not bad enough to tell her the truth. _Besides,_ she thought, _she's going to the hospital earlier than last time, maybe everything will be okay._ With that in mind, she helped book an appointment for the next morning.

—

After making sure her mom was okay, Buffy remembered her promise to Giles and made her way to the Magic Box with Anne and Alice. She was almost certain that Joyce was going to be fine, and was in such a good mood, not even the bell signalling her arrival at the shop could bring her down.

Considering it was still quite early in the morning, it wan't surprising that the only people in the shop were Giles, Anya, and Willow. Anne and Alice ran over to the table to hug Willow, then sat down on either side of her. Buffy greeted the two other people in the shop, who smiled briefly in response.

After she had returned both of their hugs, Willow turned around and became more serious.

"I need to tell you something," she said, and motioned for Buffy to follow her into the training room. Buffy's mind immediately went to worst case scenarios, and began to worry for safety of her family and Willow herself.

"Can you two keep an eye on the girls?" Buffy asked, and followed Willow once she had received an affirmative nod from Anya and Giles.

"Don't panic," she began, making Buffy realise how unreassuring her words must have been to her mother earlier, as she was still panicking. "Seriously, it's not that bad. I just don't know how long we'll be stuck here - the spell I used isn't one I've done before, and since I figured we would only be transported to somewhere in our own time, I didn't think of what would happen if we couldn't get home. It's a powerful spell, so we can't just do a general reversal spell, and I don't know if I can use the same spell I used to get us here. Basically, we might be here a while." She finished, taking a deep breath.

Buffy nodded. "It's not that bad here, though. I mean, obviously, I want to get home, but it's almost we're being given a second chance. Just think of all the things we could change for the better!" Willow nodded.

"I get that Buffy, but that doesn't mean it's going to be easy. We need to get some money for clothes and toothbrushes and stuff, and if we get stuck here long enough, we'll have to find somewhere else to stay." Buffy shrugged her shoulders, her good mood still firmly in place.

"I have enough cash on me to buy some necessities, and I could always get a short term job." Willow still seemed unsure. "C'mon Wills, we could do so much good while we're here! We could stop me from dying this year, which would stop the rise of the First, which is where Anya, Spike and lots of potentials died. We could save so many lives, even if we aren't here for long." Willow nodded.

"Do you think I could save Tara?" She asked, her voice unsteady. Buffy nodded firmly.

"I think you could." Hope flared up in Willow's chest, and she immediately began listing in her head everything that led to Tara being shot. Buffy talking brought her out of her thoughts.

"Since we're going to be here a while, we should try to do everything to beat Glory without any losses. We have a lot of foreknowledge," she said. "I think we could do it." Willow, now feeling much more optimistic about the situation nodded her head.

"You're right." She smiled.

"So, do you have any idea how to get Spike back?" Buffy asked, almost not wanting to hear the answer when she saw the apologetic look on Willow's face.

"Not yet, but I'll find a way, I promise." Buffy's mind flashed back to the promise she made her mom earlier and tried to smile.

"I know you will," she smiled. "We better get back before Giles starts telling the girls more bad jokes," she joked. Willow laughed, and they both walked back into the shop in a better mood.


End file.
